A Celebration of Women™

 

is elated to Celebrate the Life of this woman leader, one that is taking every resource available to her for the further empowerment of girls with education and women with skills for enterprise development. This woman is so devoted to her cause that she left Kenya alone, leaving three children of her own behind to seek assistance in developing an education centre for the children of her community.

Her dream is to buy a 50 acre piece of land on which to build a modern educational complex.

 
 

WOMAN of ACTION™

 

 

Phionah Musumba

 
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“I am a beautiful married mother of 6, 5 alive. Am trained as a journalist but above all, I have a heart full of love for anyone female. I have a burning passion for the needy and less privileged in society, not because I have much, since I got nothing, but because I have been through a lot of suffering all my life, as a young girl and even as a mother.

It is with this in mind that I set up the Centre for Disadvantaged Girls, a Community Based Organization in 2002, and later the Malkia Foundation, a Nantional NGO in Kenya in 2014. We empower girls with educational opportunities and women with skills for enterprise development. Ours is a haven where women come for solace, and where they can not only dream again, but also nurture their dreams to fruition.”

I envision an all girls school that would be 60% STEM and 40% regular in order to make it more marketable and appealing to tuition paying students, for the sustainability of the bright tuition free girls from poverty stricken backgrounds. This would be a first of its kind in Kenya.

At the same place, I have a dream to build a clinic that would provide quality medical attention to my community, most of who die because the corruption that is rampant in the local government in our Vihiga County does not allow them to access even medication that is supposed to be free to children under five years old. This is a situation that raises the mortality rate in my community, due to diseases and ailments that are not supposed to kill in this day and age, like diarrhea, cholera, tuberculosis and even malaria.

“I also dream of a community vocational training centre which will offer hands on marketable technical courses for gainful or self employment to the young mothers who mostly consist of school dropouts and any other women in my community willing to better their lot in life.”

I have a dream to build radio and television stations there too, to put a spotlight on, and broadcast to the world everything that happens on the ground, at the grassroots level, since this is an area that has been neglected by the mainstream media due to political sycophancy.

We plan to utilize these items for our computer, tailoring, carpentry, masonry, hospitality, hair/beauty and mass communication courses in our community vocational training college for teenage and young mothers who can not go back to school.

We are presently fundraising to purchase a 40 ft shipping container, together with shipping costs of the above items, as we believe it is better to collect then ship them home, than my going home empty handed then writing back begging for funds to purchase the same.

I have a dream to build radio and television stations there too, to put a spotlight on, and broadcast to the world everything that happens on the ground, at the grassroots level, since this is an area that has been neglected bfy the mainstream media due to political sycophancy.

“I came to the USA on 4th August 2014 for a 4 month Community Solutions Program of the Department of State, which is being implemented by IREX. There were 60 of us from all over the world and we were all sent to different states and placed with host organizations. In as much as everyone in Washington D.C. who heard what my dream was thought it was too big, they sent me to big old Texas, which is massive, and the dream keeps getting bigger and bigger.”

So far, we are going to start a Girl Scout Group for the girls in my community in partnership with the Girl Scouts of Central Texas, who are introducing us to the Girl Scouts USA.

We have also managed to partner with the Austin’s Yellow Bike Project, who are giving us as many bikes as we can ship back home, 3 tool kits worth over $1,000 and spare parts for the bikes too.

The Austin Yellow Bike Project 501c(3) is a volunteer-powered initiative to put bicycles on the streets of Austin and Central Texas by operating community bike shops, teaching bike mechanics and maintenance, and acting as a local bike advocacy group.

We therefore just started the Austin’s Yellow Bike Project, Malkia Kenya.

Here our women and girls will learn to not only repair but also build bikes for sale, which is a form of employment.

Diana Gorham, our Host Supervisor at the YWCA, is donating a truck for our organization. We are very grateful.

Audrey Selden, our Community Mentor has been introducing me to so many people that my head swims trying to remember all of their names.

Meanwhile, we are calling out to people with stuff they don’t use but are in good working condition:

• Computers
• Laptops
• Printers
• Sewing machines
• Carpentry tools
• Masonry tools
• Printing presses
• Industrial paper cutters
• Plate making machines (for printing)
• Blow dryers
• Hair driers
• Make up kits (manicure and pedicure sets)
• Kitchen appliances like cookers, microwaves, washing machines, driers, fridges, pots and pans too!

Anyone with an extra dollar to spare towards this endeavor is very welcome, and it would be a great help to my community if we all shared this within our networks.

Also, anyone with clothes, shoes and school bags idling around their homes would really benefit children in rural Kenya if they are willing to part with them.

I will update you on what else we are doing towards realizing the vision I have for women, girls and their children in Kenya.

Malkia Foundation is putting smiles to girls and women in Vihiga Western Kenya. Phionah, her inspiring first-person story motivated her to make a difference to many others.

 

 
Malkia Foundation is here to empower young Kenyan women to ameliorate their lives by providing them with educational opportunities.

Meet Phionah Musumba the Founder of the Malkia Foundation in Gamoi, Kenya in 2019. Phionah has partnered with Mama Hope to build a STEM School for girls in her community because she is committed that the African girl has a STEM education.
 

 

 
 

FIND PHIONAH HERE

Phiohan Musumba – FACEBOOK

Malkia Foundation – FACEBOOK

 
 

A Celebration of Women™

welcomes this powerhouse into our global alumni with open arms, looking forward to future collaborations, bettering the lives of all women, especially young women and girls inside Kenyan small villages.

 

 

 

Brava Phionah!

 

Original 2014/Updated 2022